Lynn L’Heureux raises some important questions ….Why Pray? – Self Righteous or Righteous? –– Do what you Can – Where does your path lead? in her reflections for Tuesday October 29, 2013
Dear Lord God, our Father in heaven we begin another day. I pray you show mercy to all in our Vincentian Family and help them to do your will. Help us cherish this day You have given us all and enjoy everything you place before us. Shine upon us as we serve Jesus in everyone you place before us. May this day be holy and all we come in contact with being truly blessed by your presence in us.
Hi Lord, it’s me again. We’re getting older and things are getting bad here. Energy, healthcare and food costs are so high, and the future doesn’t look good. I know some have taken you out of our schools, government, funerals, and even Christmas. But Lord, I’m asking you to come back and re-bless our countries and our work. We really need you! Amen
Why Pray? “For me, prayer is a surge of the heart; it is a simple look turned toward heaven, it is a cry of recognition and of love, embracing both trial and joy.” (Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897)). I don’t think I could say it better. I believe in praying always, especially when things are going really bad. My parish priest once challenged me to pray always, he said I would never be the same. I went home and had piles of work to do on the computer and deadlines to meet. I rarely take anything to drink or eat in the computer area, but this day I needed more time. I remembered the challenge on prayer and quickly looked up and prayed all my stuff would get done. I prayed the kids would behave and the phone wouldn’t ring and I think I said, “I deserve this.” Well, my coffee dumped over on all my work, my keyboard jammed because of the coffee in it and I was an absolute mess (mentally and physically). I look up and raised my hands in prayer and started to laugh. “I love you Lord, You are my all. I know you have a great sense of humour but did you have to hit me with it so hard.” I left the computer and quieted down and began the most perfect pray, Our Father. I was silent for about an hour, just hanging out and talking to God, Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I went back to my work and my mess, cleaned everything and began again. I finished the job in record time and my focus was not on me, but on God. We pray for answers, we pray for comfort, we pray for help, but mostly we pray because it is the right thing to do and we all need a “surge of the heart”
Self Righteous or Righteous? “Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted. “ (Matthew 23:12). I think we should all ask ourselves this question once in awhile. What is our model of faith? Are we a model of faith to others? We know who our role model should be and we are called to teach as Jesus taught and to forgive as Jesus forgave and to love as Jesus loved. We patiently go to our young people and mentor them in their work with the Vincentian Family and their faith development. We must be Jesus to other Vincentians and of course with those God lovingly puts before us. If others are to believe our faith, we must be righteous. We have to live it when we are with others in every situation. Let our love for others humble us. This was the action of Jesus. Let love be our motivation to serve. The works we do is God’s work and let us serve Him more, led by the Spirit and embraced by the Trinity. Let our motivation be the Word. We are called to serve, it is not special, and it is a calling from God to do His will. It is what it is and God receives the glory, we are servant.
Do what you Can – The work we do is only what we can do. We can’t fix everything, but we can try. We love God and have a personal relationship with Him, He loves us more and is so willing to meet us and lift us in the love and action we have for others. If you can’t walk on water, don’t try, but at least get out of the boat. Avoid the unnecessary tasks of listening to gossip. Use your time wisely and look for holiness in all you do. If you want perfection, focus on the foundation of Christian righteousness and goodness. This is the virtue our Lord wants for us. This is our model of doing all we can in love, justice and humility.
Where does your path lead? Know where you are going. Do not wander aimlessly. Knowing who you are is the first step of your journey. Learn about yourself and love yourself, before going on your path. We know our true selves by coming to God and we love others more, by loving ourselves, not in the self centered way, but by acknowledging God’s most wonderful creation – YOU! Take prayer with you on your path. Remember silence is a magnificent master. It speaks to our hearts like nothing else. The sounds of silence are not a void or emptiness. God is in the silence and His message is loud and clear.
Blessings,
Lynn
Lynn L’Heureux is Special needs co-coordinator & Advisor of the Society of St Vincent de Paul Calgary Alberta Canada
Subscribe to her weekly newsletter Vincentian Day of Prayer and Fast (English and Spanish) by sending an email to calgaryssvpadm@gmail.com
Tags: L'Heureux, Society of St. Vincent de Paul, SVDP
